Health & Fitness
Running the Peachtree
AJC Peachtree Road Race reveals more about the long view of life. Participation is the key.
The race volunteer peered intently at my driver’s license and looked up at me. She looked back down at my license and at me again. Then, she smiled as she handed me my AJC Peachtree Road Race runners bib and said, "You look great for your age."
I know she meant it as a compliment. It made me smile and put an extra bit of spring in my step. But, I was also thinking life’s vibrancy doesn’t need to be zapped by the number of trips around the sun.
Stereotypes paraded before us in advertising and entertainment portray decline and diminished capacity as the norms for rising years. Maybe that’s not the whole picture.
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As the country’s population demographic shifts upward, there is more research and conversation about aging and quality of life. A Gallup-Robinson survey (see note below) found:
- "Most people over 50 consider themselves to be "Free Spirits" when it comes to aging – rolling with what life brings their way."
- "View of seniors on how their expectations of getting older panned out: 50 percent say it is just as they expected, and 24 percent say it is better than they thought.
To me those findings illustrate:
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- gratitude for life well lived
- and a continuing expectation to be engaged and active in daily life.
I'm inspired by Caleb's example in the book of Joshua in the Bible. At 85 years old, he described his undiminished capacities. He lived those gifts by serving God. Caleb's experience isn't limited to an Old Testament story. In 1921, scientists started following the lives of 1,500 Americans. The findings were published last year in a book called The Longevity Project by Howard S. Friedman, Ph. D. and Leslie R. Martin, Ph.D. They discovered that people who were religious lived the longest. The researchers concluded that it was because their lives included a regular practice of prayer and service to others.
There's nothing like the world’s largest 10K race to people watch. As I ran, I saw several runners who passed me with messages about running their first Peachtree more than 25 years ago. My favorite was a T-shirt on a runner that passed me: "First Peachtree 30 years ago at 35, still running at 65."
Activity and vitality don’t necessarily have to disappear with age, especially if prayer, gratitude and service keep the fires of life stoked.
Note: http://www.pfizer.com/files/news/get_old/get_old_infographic.pdf
